IT WAS a night of firsts at the Dubbo RSL Memorial Club on Saturday night with local fighters proving their hard work paid off against tough competitors.
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Up to 650 people packed the auditorium to see Joel Galea triumph over Kane Buckley from Sydney in what was described as a “cracker” of a bout by promoter and fellow boxer Robert Toomey.
Seven local boys, and for the first time a woman, took to the ring in a series of fights against boxers from across NSW.
Toomey was a very content and satisfied man when he recapped the events of the night to the Daily Liberal.
“It was a good night where a lot of people walked out happy and entertained,” Toomey said.
“We’re very pleased with the results and the amount of people who turned out to support the event.”
Hardnox Boxing’s (Wellington) Tyrone Thompson won by stoppage in the second round against Shannon Vincent (68kg) from Parkes.
Caleb Ring (also from Hardnox) and Braidon Newman (Insane Boxing, Dubbo) got beaten by their respective competitors from Cowra (Shannon Manton, 69kg) and Wagga Wagga (Tobias Krebs, 56kg).
Newman got beaten on points and as he is relatively new to the boxing scene, will look at getting better with age. He previously won his first three fights.
Peter Sallustio (Insane Boxing) also lost on points against Richie Morgan from Cowra (88kg).
Sallustio, who has been away from the ring for four years, put up a good fight against Morgan but it was ultimately a big ask for him to win his first fight back due to Morgan’s experience.
Fitness Corner’s Shane Konz won in the third round against Orange’s Matthew Wade (who weighed more than 100kg) when the referee stopped the fight. Toomey said Konz’s win was well deserved as he had trained hard for the past three months.
Newcomer Cheree Berry (Fitness Corner) won her first fight against Ginny Conners (Orange, 55kg) in what Toomey called the “fight of the night.”
“Cheree trained hard with (fellow promoter) John Hallford for two months and beat Ginny very easily. It was also the first time we had a girl fight at the RSL which was great,” Toomey said.
“Ginny is a very experienced boxer and so Cheree did well to beat her. The crowd went insane during that fight, it was a great atmosphere.”
Fellow Fitness Corner boxer Adam Darlington also made his debut in the ring, winning his first fight against Liam Slater (Orange, 79kg) by split decision. Darlington trained for six months towards the fight which ultimately paid off.
Wellington’s Aiden Ryan lost a split decision against Caleb Simpson (80kg) from Swan Hill in Victoria.
“Aiden’s fight was one of the highlights of the night. Both he and Simpson threw some big punches and it was very close. I helped Aiden on the corner and I could see how much he wanted to win,” Toomey said.
“Joey (Williams) fought a technical fight against Robert Oyan (Sydney) and he made it look easy. He was on his best form.”
Josh Toomey (Hardnox) was pulled out of his scheduled fight against Norman Lang from Orange at 5.30pm on Saturday because Lang had to undergo a medical. Josh’s next fight is on March 16.
“We’d like to thank all our sponsors, fighters and the Dubbo community as these events can’t happen without them,” Toomey said.
Toomey will next fight on May 11 at the Dubbo RSL. Galea will also jump in the ring to fight for the NSW Welterweight Title in Dubbo.